Plastic label holder



1967 D. E. LITTLER 3,335,510

PLASTI C LABEL HOLDER Filed Dec. 9, 1,964

INVENTOR. DAVID E. LITTLER QM,WW

ATTORNEYS 3,335,510 PLASTIC LABEL HOLDER David E. Littler, Detroit, Mich., assignor to Panter- This invention relates generally to label holders for books and the like, and more particularly to a one-piece construction plastic label holder.

Heretofore, label holders for books were made in a multi-piece construction which required the making of separate parts and the assembly of these parts into the final label holder. In some instances, the multi-piece label holders were made from metal which required at least two different types of metal, that is, a first type steel for the card receptacle and a second type steel for making the spring legs which attach the label holder to the hook. An additional piece, namely, a clear plastic window, was necessary to protect the label from getting dirty, knocked out of the holder, and so forth. Examples of these prior art metal label holders are shown in US. Patents Nos. 2,539,069 and 3,133,367. Other attempts have been made to reduce the number of parts in a label holder and to eliminate some of the metal, and examples of these types of label holders are shown in US. Patents Nos. 2,846,795, 2,862,318 and 2,977,698. The last three mentioned patents show label holders using plastic label holder bodies, but they have the disadvantage of being costly to make, being subject to having the label cards drop out or be accidentally dislodged, and being made in a multi-piece construction.

In view of the foregoing, it is an important object of the present invention to provide a novel and improved plastic label holder which is molded in a one-piece construction, is economical of manufacture, simple and compact in construction, and 6ffiCll1t in use.

A disadvantage of the aforementioned prior art label holders which employ metal for making the card holder body or the spring attachment legs is that they scratch and mar not only the book upon which they are used, but desks upon which the books, on which the label holders are mounted, are opened and laid thereon. These label holders also have a disadvantage in that they are injurious to sensitive objects, as various clothing articles against the label holders may be accidentally brushed in the process of carrying a book provided with such a label holder from place to place. Such clothing articles include items as the dress of a woman clerk, nylon stockings and the like. Accordingly, it is a further object to provide a plastic label holder which is molded in a one-piece construction with smooth rounded plastic corners and surfaces which normally engage the book upon which the label holder is mounted and objects on which the book may be laid or brushed against, so that the label holder may be termed a non-scratching or non-marring label holder.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a novel and improved plastic label holder which is economical to make because it may be molded in a one-piece construction.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a novel and improved plastic label holder which is nited States Fatent O preferably made from a suitable clear plastic, and which will retain securely a label card in place so that it cannot get dirty or be accidentally knocked out of the holder.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a novel and improved one-piece construction plastic label holder which is preferably made from a transparent or clear plastic which does not clash with the color of the book on which the label holder is mounted, and which is relatively thin, smooth and flat appearing on a book so as to provide an over-all pleasing appearance.

It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a novel and improved one-piece construction plastic label holder which is preferably made from a clear or transparent plastic and which includes a transparent body having a recess formed on the rear side thereof for the reception and seating therein of a label card, and which has a plurality of integral tabs formed on the body and extended laterally over the recess to retain the card in said recess, and a pair of integral molded plastic spring legs for detachably securing the label holder to a book by spring tension.

Other objects, features and advantages of this invention will be apparent from the following detailed description. appended claims, and the accompanying drawing.

In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of a book provided with the detachable plastic label holder made in accordance with the principles of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged, front elevational view of the plastic label holder illustrated in FIG. 1, and showing the actual size of a label holder;

FIG. 3 is a bottom plan view of the plastic label holder illustrated in FIG. 2, taken along the line 33 thereof, and looking in the direction of the arrows;

FIG. 4 is a right side elevational view of the plastic label holder illustrated in FIG. 2, taken along the line 44 thereof, and looking in the direction of the arrows;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged, horizontal sectional view of the plastic label holder illustrated in FIG. 2, taken along the line 5-5 thereof, and looking in the direction of the arrows;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged, elevational sectional View of the plastic label holder illustrated in FIG. 1, taken along the line 6-6 thereof, and looking in the direction of the arrows;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged, fragmentary view of the structure shown in FIG. 5, taken within the circle marked 7; and,

FIG. 8 is an enlarged, fragmentary side elevational view of the lower portion of one of the label holder spring arms.

Referring now to the drawing and in particular to FIGS.'

1, 2 and 3, the numeral 10 generally indicates the body member of a plastic label holder made in accordance with the principles of the present invention. FIG. 1 shows the label holder mounted in operative position on a book or hinder which is generally indicated by the numeral 11. The plastic label holder is mounted on the book cover portion 12 which encloses the edge of the book It where the leaves of the book are held together.

As best seen in FIGS. 2 through 5, the label holder body 10 is elongated and substantially rectangular in overall configuration. The label holder body 10 may also be provided with an arcuate cross section so that the outer surface is convex, and the inner surface is concave for smooth seating engagement against the convex outer surface of the book cover portion 12.

As best seen in FIGS. 2 through 5, the label holder body is provided with an elongated, rectangularly shaped recess 13 which is integrally formed on the rear side of the body 10. The recess 13 has a curved cross section and forms a label card receptacle. This recess 13 is bounded on both the sides and the top and bottom thereof by a portion or ridge 10a of the body 10 so that a label card cannot he accidentally dislodged from the recess by moving out of the recess in an upward, downward or sideward direction. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the body 10 is provided with a plurality of integrally formed tabs along each of the sides of the recess 13 for retaining a label card in place in the recess 13. A label card 13a is shown in FIG. 1 disposed in the recess 13.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 6, the label holder is provided with a pair of substantially Z-shaped attachment legs, generally indicated by the numerals and 16. FIG. 4 shows the attachment leg 16 in the free state. FIG. 6 shows the attachment leg 15 in the position when mounted on the binder cover portion 12 of a book. Both of the attachment legs 15 and 16 are similarly constructed and only the leg 16 will be described in detail. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, the attachment leg 16 includes the upper portion 17 which is integrally connected to the body 10 at the upper right corner thereof. The leg portion 17 extends rearwardly from the body portion 10 in a direction perpendicular to the transverse and longitudinal axes of the body 10.

As best seen in FIGS. 4, S and 6, the attachment leg 16 further includes the downwardly extended, elongated portion 18 which is integrally connected to the underside of the horizontal leg portion 17 at the outer corner thereof. In the free state, as shown in FIG. 4, the leg portion 18 slopes downwardly and forwardly at an angle of approximately 18 from the vertical axis.

The attachment leg 16 further includes the lower end portion 19 which is integrally connected to the bottom end of the leg portion 18. As shown in FIG. 4, the lower end portion 19 curves downwardly and rearwardly from the bottom end of the leg portion 18. The leg portion 19 is arcua-te in cross section, and in one embodiment it was formed to a one-half inch radius. The upper end of the leg portion 19 is enlarged and terminates at the junction with the leg portion 18 in a sharp projection indicated by the numeral 20 in FIGS. 4 and 8. As shown in FIG. 6-, when the label holder is mounted on a book, the attachment legs 15 and 16 swing outwardly toward the inside surface of the book cover portion 12 so as to bring the pointed portions 20 into engagement with the book cover portion 12- and lock the label holder in place. The portions of the attachment leg 15 have been marked with the same reference numerals as the attachment leg 16. The attachment leg 15 is similarly connected to the outer rear corner of the upper portion 17 thereof. As shown in FIGS. 2, 5 and 7, the leg portions 18 of the attachment legs 15 and 16 extend downwardly from the upper portions 17 and are spaced laterally outward from the sides of the body 11). 7

When applying a label holder of the present invention to a book the label card 13a with the appropriate data marked thereon is inserted in the recess 13 behind the tabs 14. The plastic attachment leg portions 18 are flexible relative to the upper horizontal portions 17, and the respective points where these two leg portions are joined form hinge points about which the leg portions 18 may be pivoted backwardly for mounting operations. The label holder may be quickly and easily mounted on the back cover portion 12 of a book by merely swinging the leg portions 18 rearwardly to positions spaced apart from the body 10, and then sliding the leg portions 18 downwardly over the up per end of the cover portion 12 to the position shown in FIG. 6. The spring action of the attachment legs then tends to rotate the leg portions clockwise, as shown in FIG. 6, so as to bring the sharp or pointed projections 20 to bear against the inside surface of the cover portion 12 and securely lock the label holder in place. This locking action prohibits the label holder from being moved accidentally in a vertical direction and dislodged from the book cover portion 12. This mounting action is accomplished because of the one-piece molded plastic construction of the label holder. On the other hand, the label holder may be quickly and easily detached from the book cover portion 12 by merely engaging the two attachment legs 15 and 16 from the inside thereof to release the locking action and to permit the label holder to be slid off of the cover portion 12. It will be seen that the label holder is held on a book cover portion by both the spring action of the attachment legs 15 and 16 and the locking action of the sharp or pointed portion 20.

When the one-piece construction label holder of the present invention is made from clear or transparent plastic it allows the label holder to blend with any color book to provide a neat appearing book. The only thing which can be seen from the back of the book is the label card itself with the label information on it, since the clear plastic permits the color of the book to show through. This feature is not possible with a metal label holder, and it is also not possible with the aforementioned prior art plastic label holders. The prior art label holders contain separately fabricated and mounted spring attachment arms, and the plastic in these holders is usually colored to hide the attachment arms. Since the body member 10 is made from clear plastic, there is no requirement of 21 separate piece of clear plastic to cover the window portion of the label holder to keep the card clean as is necessary in the prior art multi-piece construction label holders, whether made of plastic or metal. The label holder of the present invention can be molded by any suitable means, as by injection molding. The corners of the label holder are formed with smooth rounded corners so that they will not scratch or mar any object with which they may come in contact. Also, because of its unique one-piece construction the label holder of the present invention is more economical to manufacture than the prior art multi-piece constructed label holders. A disadvantage of the prior art multi-piece label holders is that they can be accidentally dismantled or disassembled by a person grabbing the book and pushing the label holder apart when putting the book back in place on the shelf or removing it therefrom.

It will be understood that the label holder of the present invention may be made to any desired size. Because of the unique one-piece molded construction, a label holder made in accordance with the present invention is adapted to be made to a substantially thin cross section. For example, in one embodiment the body member 10 was made to a thickness of .092" with the recess being approximately .060" in depth. The label holder was approximately 1%" in width with the width of the recess being and the height or length of the recess being 2% and the over-all height or length of the label holder being 2%". In said illustrative embodiment the attachment leg portions 17 were /s" wide, fla" thick or in height, and they were .310 in length. The leg portions 18 were substantially .092" by .060" in cross section, with the longer dimension being disposed parallel to the side of the body 10.

While it will be apparent that the preferred embodiment of the invention herein disclosed is well calculated to fultill the objects above stated, it will be appreciated that the invention is susceptible to modification, variation and change without departing from the proper scope or fair meaning of the subjoined claim.

What I claim is:

A one-piece construction plastic label holder for affixing a label to the back binding of ring type looseleaf binder books, comprising: an elongated body of substantially rectangular form in plan view, an open recess formed on the rear side of said body for the reception of a label card; said recess being bounded around the periphery thereof on all four sides by a ridge to hold a label card against movement upwardly, downwardly and sidewardly; retainer means integrally formed on the rear side of said body and extended inward over said recess for retaining a label card in the recess against rearward movement; and, at least a pair of flexible attachment legs integrally connected to the top outer corners of the body for detachably mounting the label holder on said book back binding by slipping the legs behind the back binding to provide a lateral pressure to hold the label holder body against the book binding.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 214,770 4/1879 Gathright 4016 2,526,950 10/1950 Jones 40-16 X 2,764,161 9/1956 Sobesky 1291 2,862,318 12/1958 Sobesky 4011 3,186,114 6/1965 Carter 4()1O EUGENE R. CAPOZIO, Primary Examiner. W. J. CONTRERAS, Assistant Examiner. 

